IRVING, Texas — The Indianapolis Colts are perfect no more. And as flawed as the Dallas Cowboys are, they’re starting to look like contenders again.

Tony Romo managed an efficient game in his first career start at home, Marion Barber III ran for two fourth-quarter touchdowns and the Cowboys handed Peyton Manning and the Colts their first loss of the season 21-14 Sunday.

A week after becoming the first team to start 9-0 in consecutive seasons, Indianapolis fell shy in its bid to match last year’s 13-0 run, much less the perfect season by the 1972 Miami Dolphins.

The Colts had escaped close calls all season — two one-point wins over bad teams at home and five other wins by less than a touchdown — but couldn’t overcome four turnovers.

Dallas (6-4) is two games over .500 for the first time all season. With four of the remaining six games at home and with the rest of the division ailing, the Cowboys are in prime position to make a run at the division title.

Chargers 35, Broncos 27

DENVER — LaDainian Tomlinson scored four times and reached 100 touchdowns faster than any player in NFL history as San Diego (8-2) moved a game ahead of Denver (7-3) in the AFC West.

Tomlinson, who has scored an NFL-record 19 touchdowns in his last six games, reached 100 TDs in his 89th game, four fewer than it took Hall of Famer Jim Brown and Emmitt Smith. He now has 102 TDs and also topped 1,000 yards rushing for the sixth straight season.

Titans 31, Eagles 13

PHILADELPHIA — Philadelphia lost Donovan McNabb for the rest of the season with a torn knee ligament. Jeff Garcia was 26-for-48 for 189 yards and one TD filling in for McNabb.

Travis Henry had a 70-yard touchdown run, Adam “Pacman” Jones returned a punt 90 yards for a score and Vince Young ran for 49 yards and threw for 101 and one TD. He completed just 8 of 22 passes for the Titans.

Patriots 35, Packers 0

GREEN BAY, Wis. — New England forced Brett Favre out of the game, then snapped its losing streak.

New England had a 21-0 lead with under two minutes left in the first half when linebacker Tully Banta-Cain wrapped up Favre and Tedy Bruschi jumped in to finish the sack. Bruschi’s hit slammed Favre to the ground on his throwing arm. Favre, who made his 251st consecutive start including playoff games, was replaced by ex-Cal star Aaron Rodgers.

Bengals 31, Saints 16

NEW ORLEANS — The Carson Palmer-to-Chad Johnson connection was clicking again, for touchdowns of 41, 60 and 4 yards as Cincinnati snapped a three-game losing streak.

The pair combined for 260 yards and two touchdowns in last week’s 49-41 loss to San Diego. This week, they got some help from the defense, which thwarted four Saints drives with three interceptions and a fumble recovery.

Steelers 24, Browns 20

CLEVELAND — Ben Roethlisberger

shoveled a 4-yard touchdown pass to Willie Parker with 32 seconds left, rallying Pittsburgh over Cleveland, which was minutes away from kicking the defending Super Bowl champions into the AFC North basement.

Roethlisberger, intercepted three times in the first half, threw for 272 yards — 224 in the fourth quarter — as the Steelers avoided a defeat that would have made it almost impossible to get into the playoffs.

Panthers 15, Rams 0

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Carolina sacked Marc Bulger seven times in shutting out St. Louis, the fifth straight loss for the Rams. Jake Delhomme threw a 62-yard touchdown pass to Steve Smith, and that was all the offense the Panthers would need.

It was the first time the Rams had been shut out since 1998.

Ravens 24, Falcons 10

BALTIMORE — B.J. Sams proved to be more elusive than Michael Vick — and far more productive.

Sams returned six kicks for 212 yards, Jamal Lewis scored three touchdowns and the Ravens wore down the Falcons in the second half.

The Ravens clinched it with an 87-yard drive that lasted more than eight minutes. Lewis finished the 15-play march with a touchdown run with 3:02 left, giving Baltimore a 24-10 lead.

Bears 10, Jets 0

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Mark Bradley turned a short completion into a 57-yard touchdown 10 seconds into the final quarter, and the Bears never looked back.

Chicago (9-1) notched its second shutout this season — the Bears blanked the Packers at Green Bay on Sept. 10. The Bears, coming off a 38-20 victory over the New York Giants, also became the first road team since the 1999 Washington Redskins to win two straight games at the Meadowlands.

Dolphins 24, Vikings 20

MIAMI — The only time Miami was able to run with the ball was when the defense snatched it away.

Renaldo Hill and Jason Taylor returned turnovers for touchdowns in the fourth quarter, and Miami overcame another sputtering offensive performance.

Minnesota lost despite setting a team record by limiting the Dolphins to minus-3 yards rushing in 14 carries.

Bills 24, Texans 21

HOUSTON — J. P. Losman was unstoppable early, and late. The Buffalo quarterback hit a diving Peerless Price in the back of the end zone for the winning touchdown with 13 seconds left.

Lee Evans caught six passes for 205 yards and two TDs in the first quarter. He just missed the NFL record of 210 yards receiving in a quarter.

Houston’s David Carr tied the NFL record for consecutive completions with 22.

Buccaneers 20, Redskins 17

TAMPA, Fla. — Jason Campbell looked poised and confident in his debut. Unfortunately for Washington, the second-year quarterback no longer had Carnell “Cadillac” Williams behind him to make his job easier.

Williams stole the spotlight from his former Auburn teammate, rushing for 122 yards as Tampa Bay ended a three-game losing streak.

Cardinals 17, Lions 10

GLENDALE, Ariz. — Matt Leinart finally is a winner in the NFL. The Arizona rookie went 19-for-29 for 233 yards and a touchdown and ran 9 yards for a score to help the Cardinals (2-8) snap an eight-game losing streak with a win over Detroit (2-8).

Three women have told the New York Times that music mogul Russell Simmons raped them, the latest in a cascade of serious allegations of sexual misconduct against powerful men in entertainment, media, politics and elsewhere.